166 AGRICULTUEAL REPORT. 



The white and tlie black spruces are among the most valuable orna- 

 mental evergreens, and their presence in the vicinity of the farm-house 

 or dwelling is at once an evidence of taste, and adds materially, not only 

 to the market-value of a place, but i)resents agreeable objects for the 

 eye, and relieves the dreariness of the winter landscape. 



Among ornamental evergreens, perhaps none is more deserving of a 

 place than the hemlock. Its delicate light-green and silvery foliage, 

 and slender, drooping, graceful branches, form a pleasing contrast with 

 the stiflfer and more rigid i^ines and spruces. Perhaps, on account of 

 its commonness in the Northern and Eastern States, it has been neglected 

 as an ornamental tree. Mr. Meehan says of it that it would be no ex- 

 aggeration to propounce it the most beautiful evergreen in cultivation. 

 It has been recommended as a screen or ornamental hedge, but for this 

 IDurpose there is probably no evergreen equal to the arbor- vitce. This 

 bears close planting, may be pruned into any desired shape, and forms 

 a dense, compact wall of the deepest green. The Siberian and Chinese 

 arbor-vitas are considerably cultivated, and may, perhaps, suit some 

 localities better than the American. 



TJie larch. — The larch, although not an evergreen, is a coniferous 

 tree, possessing the same general characters of structure and fructifica- 

 tion as those we have mentioned. The American and the European are 

 the two species which are known in cultivation. The European larch 

 has of late years been very highly, i)erhaps extravagantly, recom- 

 mended for general cultivation as a timber-tree on the western prairies. 

 It has. Indeed, many valuable qualities, being a very rapid grower, pos- 

 sessing a pleasing symmetry of form, and furnishing a wood of great 

 value and adapted to a great variety of uses. Extensive i^lantations of 

 it have been formed in Scotland, which have proved highly successful. 

 The plantations of the Duke of Athol, in that country, are everywhere 

 famous, and have stimulated to extensive i)lanting of this tree in other 

 countries. It has been here tried sufficiently to prove its value as a 

 rapid, vigorous grower, hardy and beautiful, but the wood grown here 

 has not been sufficiently tested to fully decide on its merits. Re- 

 cently, Professor JMatthews, of the Iowa Agricultural College, has 

 thrown out some doubts about the durability of the wood grown 

 upon the western j^rairies. It seems highly probable that the quality 

 of the timber is affected more or less by soil and climate. Loudon 

 says that " a certain elevation of surface, coolness of climate, and 

 inferiority of soil, are absolutely necessary to i^roduce the timber in 

 perfection." On broken hills, blulfs, and slopes it can probably be 

 grown with great profit. The American larch very closely resembles 

 the European, having smaller cones and shorter and paler leaves. Its 

 natural situation is in cold swamps in the northern portions of the 

 United States, where it is known as tamarack or hackmatack, but it 

 seems to succeed well on high and dry soils. Many contradictory state- 

 ments have been made as to the value of the timber, some considering 

 it even superior to the European species, others accounting it of little 

 value. Mr. Lapham, of Wisconsin, says : " Those who desire to make 

 plantations of the larch should take into consideration the character of 

 the land to be planted ; if it be wet, then the American larch should be 

 chosen. It is a tall, slender grower, with coarse-grained, durable, and 

 valuable wood, wherever light, straiglit timber, such as hoop-poles, is 

 required." 



The variety of our forest-trees is very great, and undoubtedly there 

 are many other kinds which are equally entitled to cultivation with 

 those we have named. Forest-culture is yet in its infancy here, and we 



